A Smiling Angel 3
by Kuinshii
Summary: Merianna is ready to return home after losing everything. Is the Phantomhive estate ready to welcome her back,even if she is no longer the same? In the final battle between them and the enemies that continue to oppose them, she will have to not only prove her worth as a servant, but as a human. No longer a smiling angel, she will have to finish up her tasks before her eternal rest.
1. The Empress

Ciel had stayed for such a long time at the border of his nation that he was beginning to become a little bit sick. Sebastian cheekily asked if it was homesickness, but Ciel had snapped back that he was getting sick of the ocean weather. Speaking of Sebastian, he had strict punishment for ignoring Ciel's calls earlier, although he did not specify where it was that he went, only that it was "somewhere so deep that I could not hear your voice, Young Master" as he had put. Ciel scoffed and offered his services to the hotel they were staying at. The old man and his young daughter had eagerly shoved most of the house-cleaning tasks to him. Ciel smirked as he watched Sebastian offering fresh towels to every suite. At the same time, it helped him focus on the business he had right now. After strangely meeting with the Undertaker in the waters, Ciel wandered around, soaked to the bone, until finally Sebastian had answered his call and whisked him away to this hotel. And now that he was here, he had spent his time ensuring that his underground society had enough contacts. Going through his lists, he had to cross a few out; namely those who met their demise. Even though he was away from his estate, there were still piles of work to do.

Right after lunch, Sebastian had delivered a small tray filled with letters, setting them all on the small desk (that is mahogany). Ciel had worked his way through them from the top, but now he rummaged around, spreading the papers and envelopes around. His concentration was wearing down and he set himself to work with only the most important ones. From the depths of the pile, his eye caught on one that had a very important red wax seal on it and he yanked it out. The delicate lettering on the front, coupled with the royal insignia told him that it was a letter from the Queen herself. He sliced it open with a penknife, a movement that was ingrained into the ridges of his fingertips. The envelope spat out two long strips of paper. When Ciel turned them over, they featured bright colours and information about an exposition. Ciel opened the envelope wider to see if there were any other contents, but all that it gave were the tickets. The young earl thought it suspicious for these tickets to come without any briefing. No such "please clear out this place of bandits" or "something strange has been happening". He sighed and supposed that he was going to an exposition for whatever reason now. Perhaps a break would be a good idea.

He checked the place and time of the exposition, brow furrowing when he discovered that it was in Paris. He didn't like going overseas that often. He took out a heavy agenda from the drawer, opening it up to today's date. Glancing from the ticket to the agenda, he scribbled in the date, four days from now. If he started immediately, he would arrive in Paris in about three days, which left one day to get settled in. For whatever reason, the Queen seemed intent on luring him further and further away from his estate. He was sure that it was purely accidental though. Shoving the rest of the letters aside, he rested his head on the hard wood, examining the tickets lazily. Sunshine streamed through the window behind him, a rare occurrence in this place, and warmed his body. He would call for Sebastian after a quick nap and have him prepare for yet another voyage.

* * *

Ciel seemed to be feeling better in the Paris air. Either that or he just had to impress the French. Sebastian had been quick to set up all the necessary preparations to be done for the trip overseas and packing up all of Ciel's things. Ciel, still feeling a bit under the weather, stayed inside the ship for most of the ride and settling in a nearby hotel, didn't get much work done. Sebastian had asked if he was well prepared for the exposition coming up, and Ciel brushed him off lightly, stating that the Queen was there. Still, Sebastian was not entirely convinced after spotting the boy nodding off with glazed eyes.

"Young Master, it wouldn't do yourself well to strain your body. After all, you need to present yourself in a fine matter during the exhibition." He commented. "The Queen might be worried that her favourite dog is sick."

"I'm fine, Sebastian. Go and prepare me some tea. Earl Grey." Came the response.

Sebastian bowed, said his usual line and set off to carry out the order. Adding in a bit of chamomile, he served it to the young master.

"Earl Grey, perhaps to remind you of home back on the island, Young Master. I added in a bit of medicinal herb, which will help clear your head."

Ciel gave him a glare, but drank the tea without complaint. The chamomile had done its work and now he was feeling a bit sleepier. Finally, he told Sebastian that he was going to have a quick nap on the sofa nearby. Sebastian took a quilt from the closet and laid it over the young boy. After staying a while to make sure that Ciel had drifted off to a comfortable sleep, he whispered to himself.

"I suppose children naturally do get homesick."

Although Ciel said he was going to have a quick nap, Sebastian figured that forgetting to wake his master up would be the best choice to make.

* * *

Clairvaux tried going on with daily life in Hell: gathering materials from her servants, giving them orders and forging items. However now she was stuck with a moping child in the corner of her forge, curled up into a ball. Her attempts at conversation were met with mute responses or listless moans. Somehow her forge went from full and busy to a little bit lonely. She slid plate after plate of whatever meal had been cooked over, and she could hear the girl's stomach growling, but in the end, Clairvaux had to recollect the food left untouched.

"So, what're you gonna do from now on?" Clairvaux asked softly, "You know you can't stay here, right? The demons'll get pretty angry…"

Silence. Clairvaux sat there, spinning at the wheel. Through the restless sound of the wooden machine, she could hear quiet sobbing. Clairvaux chose to stay silent. The girl didn't look like she wanted to be comforted right now. Still, she let her presence stay in the same room.

"I want to go home…" came a pitiful whimper, "I wa-want to-to go home now…I don't want…to-to-to leave…behi-behind…"

Her emotional state was in such a mess that words were replaced with wails and sobbing. Clairvaux, who didn't know how to take care of someone so human, simply continued on spinning.


	2. The Emperor

Standing at the balcony of the large entrance to the exhibition, Ciel surveyed the area. The air was cooler in the upper atmosphere, but it was still a nice and sunny day. The Eiffel tower, standing like a proud soldier, caught his eyes. Beside him, his butler quickly went over the introductory information he had memorized from a pamphlet earlier.

"The Champ de Mars is home to the Palace of Fine Arts…" he started.

Ciel was barely listening, but he didn't let that show. Wherever he wandered around the area, surely there would be something interesting to watch. In this giant area, where would the Queen most likely be at?

"Shall we look around a bit more? It should give you ideas for new products." Sebastian finished.

Ciel thought about the idea a bit. Although it would be a lie to say he wasn't interested in seeing some exhibits, it could be a business trip as well as leisure. Leaving it up to fate, he resolved to at least enjoy his time here.

"Yes, they say there's a stuffed angel at the Palace of Wonders!" came a voice from behind them.

Ciel and Sebastian turned around, but only two generic Frenchmen were chatting. Not suspicious, but quite a turn of events.

"A stuffed angel…?" Ciel wondered aloud.

He and his butler turned to face each other, a perplexed emotion spreading between them.

"Surely that wouldn't be…" Ciel started.

Sebastian cut him off briskly, "Should we go and see for ourselves?"

Following the signs and various maps posted around, Ciel and Sebastian entered into the Palace of Wonders. There were various glass cases with exotic artefacts in them, arranged in no particular order. The map given to them did not have any specific exhibit labelled, so they had to wander around the entire building. Eventually, they spotted a large around of people gathering near one case and Ciel came closer to inspect it.

Numerous voices murmured surprise, mockery and even a few giggles at how funny this stuffed angel looked.

"What, it's just a monkey? What a disappointment."

While Ciel said that, he felt a bit of relief. The monkey sat there with its mouth agape, swan wings opened behind its back. It was another fake, he reasoned. Faux animals were often comprised of two animals cut and sewn together. Earlier in the month, there had been a widespread gossip on a preserved mermaid being found, but after a little research, it had just been a shaven monkey torso attached to a large fish. Certainly this was just another of those strange taxidermist hobbies.

"Oh? I think it looks quite accurate." Sebastian said dryly.

They prepared to leave to seek other wonders, but a shrill scream and the sound of glass crashing caught them off guard. Without missing a beat, Sebastian pulled his master's head down as the flying monkey screeched and flew over their heads. People were panicking as the monkey swooped down along the lights, breaking them and plunging the building into darkness. The light that still filtered from the windows made the monkey stand out in the darkness as it kept flying around erratically. Ciel, too, started to feel anxious at this strange event, but Sebastian calmed him down, urging him to head towards the exit.

"Please, evacuate and leave this place to me." Sebastian suggested.

Ciel complied, running towards the exit. While a million thoughts raced his head and a pang of doubt poked at him, he kept racing for the light that led to the outside world, away from the darkness. Meanwhile, Sebastian set to work on analyzing the flying monkey. Giving thanks to the darkness, he figured that he could easily take care of the thing before it caused anymore trouble. Leaping onto a tall pillar, he used his superb jump skills to catch the monkey mid-flight, tackling it and landing with a roll onto the balcony above. The people below clamoured and headed for the exit, not noticing the black shadow zipping around to take care of the animal. Sebastian successfully pinned the animal down and slowly suffocated it until it fell limp and unmoving.

Having a closer look, he noticed the quality of the snow-white feathers. Surely none of those came from a swan. The feathers themselves looked disarranged on the wing, so Sebastian held them out at wingspan. With a crack, the wings dislocated and. As he had thought, it had a wooden framework with feathers simply glued to it. Morbidly, there was some blood on the tips of where the ends of the feathers were glued to the frame. Touching a tongue to the blood stains, he instantly recognized who it came from. Not that he particularly cared, but his curiosity had been sated. Sebastian turned the animal over and revealed a black seal under the neck of the beast. Although he was not certain how long it had been there, Sebastian knew that the seal meant that the body belonged to some demon. Finally walking out of the dark Palace, he whispered to himself.

"Such poor taste…"

What kind of stupid demon would make a contract with a monkey in mechanical wings? Well, now that the thing was dead, he was sure that the stupid demon would come to take the soul soon. He dumped it in a nearby trashcan, where it truly belonged. Looking up, he spotted a white feather floating down. He caught it and examined it. Although it was a slightly paler colour than the ones on the monkey, Sebastian could say with certainty that it still did not belong to a swan. Looking upwards, his eyes searched for where it could have come from. They finally landed on the tallest object in the area: the Eiffel Tower.

* * *

At the highest floor of the Eiffel Tower, the Queen was humming a tune to herself while Ciel straggled behind. After a strange conversation in the elevator, Ciel wasn't quite sure what to make of this Queen. Although he had only received letters as a form of communication between the two nobles, he was quite sure that the voice sounded younger than what the Queen was supposed to sound like. In his heart, he feared the worst: an impostor. Still, she had the mannerisms and speech patterns as a Queen should have. Thinking back on the case of the Bercham estate, as well as his recent findings on his own parents, this was the case he wished for.

"Might I ask you something?" Ciel interrupted, not realizing the redundancy of his question.

The Queen responded, "What is it?"

"You didn't just kill them; you made it beastly…Why?"

The horror of his memory came back to him, although he kept his face as blank as possible. The Queen turned to fully face him.

"Mind your language, Ciel." She tutted, "I _cleansed_ them."

"That's what you call 'cleansing'? Demeaning the dead?!"

"D-Demeaning…? I merely wanted to pay what tribute I could to the Phamtomhives…"

A strong gust of wind blew, taking the Queen's veil and Ciel's hat with it. When the Queen showed her tear-streaked face, Ciel had to take a step back. There was no way that this was the Queen. Her face was too young. At first, he might have thought that she was aging and thus her shorter stature, but the person in front of him looked young and pale. He heard chuckling behind him and he turned around to face Ashe. He sat on the fence, as if he was always there.

"Surprised? She is all but aglow with youth, isn't she?"

He leapt down and slowly walked towards them, carefree in his gait. He presented and waves his arms around in a flamboyant and dramatic way.

"The loss of her beloved husband ended Her Majesty's days of happiness. In her grief over his death, she once tried to end her own life. I joined his body with her own, so that she might live with the man she loved forever."

"His body…?" Ciel repeated, feeling unease in his stomach.

The Queen also joined in, giving her own testimony.

"The joy of truly becoming one with the one you love… I felt that if I gave the Phantomhives that same joy, it would not be a ghastly death at all. This kind of love…only Ashe can bring it to me."

"The Queen and her husband firmly intend to guide England to a world of perfect light." Ashe recited, "That aim has purged them of their own impurities, transforming Her Majesty into the chaste girl you see before you. What a lofty aim! She is a worthy master for an angel."

He held a hand over his heart, as if he was feeling sentimental.

"Her Majesty is selfless in that she wants to bring this happiness to all of England. To purge all evil for her country and unite everyone."

Ciel had a cold sweat seeping into his clothes and he took a step back. The Queen held a hand up to stop Ashe and took a step forward.

"The Phantomhive house has always been carrying out my orders. However, in the end they could not stop the dirt that was slowly infesting their souls. That's why… instead of continuing on like this…I had to employ the services of others too. Do you understand, Ciel?"

"W-What are you talking about?" Ciel stammered.

"I found an easier way to clean up my country. Why use your most valuable asset where there could be a more disposable resource? That's why I had Ashe create the _Rouge-Gorges_. It's much easier cleaning up if you can just throw the broom away when you're done. When they're done ridding the places of their darkness, it's easy to get rid of them, isn't it, Ashe?"

Ashe, beside her, laughed.

"S-So then…that was your doing!" Ciel muttered.

"Ashe," commanded the Queen, "at least let Ciel fall to your blade."

Ciel, who was overwhelmed with contradictory thoughts, couldn't bear to hear anymore. He stood there, unable to move or make any decisions. Ashe, on the contrary, brought out his sword and flourished it. He launched a charge, aimed right at Ciel's heart. Ciel closed his eyes, and suddenly he felt himself lifted up and carried away to a safer spot. When he opened his eye, Sebastian was there, armed with his silver knives.


	3. The Hierophant

Clairvaux wanted to keep forging in a different place, but there was no other fire than the one she had. She herself had to weave the card and hammer the soul in. In the corner of her eye, she kept a watch out for Merianna, just in case she tried to intervene in some crazy burst of emotion. Once she finished, she blew the remnants off and hastily shoved the card in her apron. It would have been better for her to finish up the last card instead of Merianna. With this, at least she should be allowed out of Hell. Although with no way to return to either Heaven or Earth, Clairvaux wasn't sure what was going to happen. She took a break, sitting by the hot coals and stared awkwardly at the girl still weeping in the corner.

"Still crying?" She asked, spitting into a bucket nearby.

"I-I-I can't…go back…n-not like this!" she wailed, "Wh-Why coul-co-couldn't I-I…? Why could-couldn't I…? I wanted to…to…save everyone…but in the end…"

"T-Things don't always turn out the way you want them to be," Clairvaux reasoned, "And there's still Maro, ain't there? She got the halo you gave her. The only reason you're so upset is cause you couldn't save Jake, right? Then just forget him."

"I-I can't! I can't! Whyyy?! Why did he have to... why…"

"Maybe you should never have fallen in love with him in the first place."

Merianna sobbed harder. Demons were not ones for comfort.

"If you just forget about him, it'll be fine, right? It's not like he's the only one you ever liked. Just go back to Earth and pick someone else." Clairvaux continued, "There's a reason why angels and demons don't usually fall in love. We aren't made to suffer like this, so just abandon your human side. Or just fall to Hell so you can stay here!"

Clairvaux cackled, stomping her hooves on the ground. She walked over to Merianna and let the tied pack of cards in front of her. To her surprise, Merianna picked them up, only to fling them away from herself. They landed a few tiles over.

"I don't want anything like that anymore! It's all…all….useless…!"

Clairvaux, in her quick anger, pulled Merianna up by the collar.

"You little shit! You're acting like a goddamn whelp baby. So what if whoever was lost? You got your damn cards and you got a way outta here so fucking take it! What're you doing around crying and wailing? Hell, I get if you wanna cry and stuff over what shit happened, but now it's time to do something about it! Stupid angel!"

Merianna kicked back. Although it was futile, Clairvaux let her down anyways.

"I'm not an angel! I'm not! I'm not…What kind of…angel isn't able to…save someone? Why? Why…can't we love…? Why do I?"

To her surprise, Clairvaux launched a powerful throw at the wall next to her, making Merianna jump and move out of the way. She kept her fist rammed against the wall, although her whole arm was shaking with fury.

"Idiot! You really think love is that universal? You think love is such an easy thing? Stupid, stupid!"

Clairvaux sunk to the ground, her fist bringing down chipped stone with it.

"Love isn't that…easy, Merianna… Why…I don't know, but… it's not supposed to be for us…" she growled, tears trickling down her face. "It's because of things like that that we can't stay with humans, don't you see? Why are there such places like Heaven and Hell? Why did God make such differences between people, angels and demons?"

She slammed the ground, with both her fists.

"Idiot! I wanted to…I…too…"

She turned her head to Merianna, who was shocked from all this sudden emotion from Clairvaux.

"Y-You idiot… Now that you know what this kind of love is, you aren't ever going to go to Heaven ever again. Neither will you ever be with the person you love. That's how it is… Angels and demons, you think we have it so easy? You think we rank above humans? No! It's the opposite! We don't have love. That's why we'll always be lower. That's why we don't go through Purgatory and shit. There's no soul in us to clean…So forget about all this. Forget about all of this and hurry up and give it over to Lucifer. I don't know what else you wanna do in your life, but just leave all this behind. Heaven, Hell, Purgatory… just forget it all."

Merianna sighed, and went over to pick up the cards, a bit without emotion.

"Clairvaux…did you have to do this too…? Is this…what's going to happen to me…?"

The demon wiped her face clear of bloody tears and backed up against the wall.

"Haha…nah, kid. Just…don't end up like me." She sniffed, "I…just…fell in love too…that's it."

Clairvaux waved her hand, signaling Merianna to come over and sit down for a story.

"I used to be human once, you know. Before I took this name, before I came here, before I became…this…You ever hear about the Virgin Mary?"

Merianna stayed quiet. She had only heard of the respected name, but nothing more. Clairvaux noticed the pause.

"Well, she was a really pretty lady…sweet and kind…I fell in love the moment I saw her. But you know…she was a woman. For so many reasons, I could marry her. She was also already married to someone. Not only that but she…she was special. She's the one who gave birth to baby Jesus after all." She explained.

Clairvaux cracked a smile and her eyes widened as if in frenzy.

"And that's when…I summoned one of them…I summoned a demon. I don't even remember who it was, but I wanted to be loved so much, so much that I would give over my soul. Ahahaha… stupid, stupid…But compared to angels, that demon was so weak. Indeed, every time that demon or I approached Mary, she seemed to feel sick, or angels would appear out of nowhere to shoo us away. I…I couldn't believe it…"

"Y-You…! You summoned a demon? Because…because…?"

"It's…stupid, isn't it? The things humans will do… I only wanted to be closer to her and yet, because of this…this demon, I couldn't. I couldn't either, I couldn't touch her with these hands that were stained by that demon. I…I ordered that demon to kill her. Ahahah! HAhahaahaHAHAHH! I don't know what they were thinking, but they were charging right at Mary to kill her and suddenly, this bright light just blew them all into bits! All without her even noticing! Stupid…stupid… she couldn't see the angels or demons right beside her…And in the end, she couldn't even see _ME_. Her, those angels, that demon…they all disappeared."

Clairvaux hacked and coughed a wad of spittle up, spitting into a bucket.

"But that…didn't erase the contract I made…In fact, it consumed me…That's the only way out of a contract with a demon…To become one yourself. When your contracted demon dies, you take its place. Some way or another, I came right down here to Hell. Maybe it's because…I don't know…a Prince took pity on me…or maybe God did…but this is where I am now."

"I…thought you were…a demon."

"I am. I am now. It's just a lucky thing that I'm one of the lesser ones. I'm sure that…_Acedia_ and _Vanagloria_ have similar stories just that I never talked to them before. We'll just…have to live like this…until we die, you know?"

With that, both of them felt a little better. Just then, the door swung open and in came Lucifer, completely destroying the friendly aura. Merianna, backed up against the wall upon his entrance. His elegant face examined Clairvaux and the chipped rock where she punched.

'What're you doing on the floor, Clairvaux? What, did you get in a fight or something?" He cackled, "Anyways, I came to get what's mine. Hand it over, girl."

Merianna held the cards close to her body, but she knew what would eventually happen. One way or another, they would be in the demon's hands. Slowly, she walked over and held them out with her head hung low. She felt the cards being taken away from her and she held her breath. Taking a step back, she held her hands close to herself to stop them from reaching out and snatching them back.

"…You stupid girl, can't you even count?"

Merianna's eyes shot back and her heart stopped. She looked from the cards spread in his hands to his horrible face. She feared the worst. What more could he take from her?

"There's…one too many here…" he said. "Tree of Life…is that some prank of yours? You fuckass, thinking you could outwit a Prince of Hell…I should smash your head in for that."

Merianna whimpered and her hands flew over to hold her head. Lucifer chuckled a bit and threw the one card down on the floor.

"Well whatever, take your mistake back with you. How troublesome…stop making more work for me…Fuck, you're annoying…" he rambled on. "And that miserable thing already has Hell powers infused in it…dumbass… it's like if you die you'll be reunited with souls that disappeared… that's idiotic… Neither Heaven nor Hell nor Purgatory or Limbo, it's not like that sort of thing exists. Stop fantasizing about such things, I'll kill you. Hurry up and get out of Hell, I hate seeing your face here."

Even though Lucifer's words were confusing and sounded threatening, he said it all in a monotone voice. With these words, he turned on his hooves and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. Merianna, letting out a sigh of relief that he was gone, stooped over and picked up the card he didn't want. It had a beautiful stylistic picture of a tree, entwined within it were what seemed like little blue orbs. Merianna gasped when she connected the orbs to the souls she had worked with. Looking for an explanation, she turned to Clairvaux, who was spinning at her wheel.

"Clair…vaux…he didn't want this one. Wh-What should I do?" she asked, holding the card out to her.

Clairvaux glanced at it before returning back to her work.

"Keep it, I guess. Weren't you listening? Hah, he's like that when he's trying to be nice. That idiot."

"What does it do?"

Clairvaux snickered, "Who knows. But I know for a fact it won't help you in this life. Keep it with you, Merianna. You know that when you die, you don't become nothing but wind, right?"

"Wind?"

"Well…not wind…but you just…don't exist no more. Anyways, maybe in an ideal world, you'll be able to be with all those who don't exist either. You look like the kind of person who'd rather spend time playing with things that don't exist over things that do."

Merianna held a bit of flush at her face.

"T-They do exist…!" she asserted.

"Right, right. Anyways, he wants you outta here. I want you outta here. Don't you have friends waiting for you back there? Hell, I've had enough of your saving people crap when there aren't any people around here. Here, I'm making you some clothes because it's so much colder out there." Clairvaux continued rambling, "Hell is nice and warm. Go be saviour elsewhere, not in my forge."


	4. The Tower

"Now what?" Meirin asked, frantically, adjusting her glasses.

"T-That's fine, Finny. Now we just gotta…we just gotta get him calmed down and stuff." Bardroy said.

He started loading his gun again with the tranquilizer bullets Snake had brought. The five servants were all scrambling around to calm Pluto down. They had managed to catch up with him in the town, but it was already burning and beginning to fall apart. With their guns or brute strength, they had somehow got the dog up on the tower. Unfortunately, the jet of flame he emitted could reach long distances and now they were running out of options. Bardroy took aim and fired another set of tranquilizers.

"How was that?"

Meirin, with her sharp eyes, sighed and lowered them.

"No good! They definitely hit, I saw them! But…"

Pluto's large howl echoed and he snarled at them. There was only a second to jump out of the way before he set fire to the spot they were standing in. The servants were running along the street to get at Pluto's side, where it would be easier to hit. It seemed that he was trying to burn down absolutely everything, and not even his owners would be spared.

"Hey, Snake, could we…use some venom or something? Maybe not a lot but there must be something we could use?" Bardroy suggested.

Snake thought about it for a while. He only knew the amount which could kill a human. To tranquilize a demon dog was a different matter. Still, he took the amount to paralyze a human and multiplied it by two. At least that should have a small effect.

"Maybe…but how will you shoot it? …asks…Bronte"

Meirin dug around the satchel with her and produced a carton of bullets.

"These. They're empty cartridges. They're pretty frail but if it works…" she explained. "You fill it in through this hole at the bottom, and wrap this here in paper, and then this small sheet of metal has a sticky side that you put over that. Then it's ready to go!

Bardroy nodded and put a hand on Snake's shoulder.

"Good. Now I want you to fill them up with venom and while you do that I'll…"

He stopped mid-speech and looked beyond Snake's shoulder.

"Is that…? No…That's…Snowy?!"

Climbing out of a broken and run down store was a thin figure draped in a black robe. She stumbled around, yelping and jumping back when she saw the dead bodies lying around.

"Merianna?!" Finny called out, letting his voice echo through the empty buildings.

The figure turned her head towards them, and seemed to be shouting something back, but nothing was heard. Unfortunately, his voice also attracted the attention of the demon dog, who reared and snarled upon noticing them. Quickly, they scrambled away. Slowly, the girl was running over towards them and came into focus, calling their names. Meirin pointed at a nearby bakery, where they could regroup and take cover. While the men went inside, Meirin stayed outside to wait for Merianna.

"Meri-! I thought…I thought-!" She said, full of relief.

"I missed you, Meirin! I'm…I'm back now. I'm glad you're safe…!" she sniffled, not wanting to start crying again.

Quietly shushing her, she led her into the bakery, where the men were sitting and reloading their guns. They were all surprised when she came in. Only when they were inside and safe did Meirin spin back on her heels and gave Merianna a hug. Merianna took a step back from the sudden action, but quickly returned her friend's hug. It didn't take long until Snake, Finnian and Bardroy joined in too.

"Sn-Snowy! Where did you go?!"

"We missed you…says everyone…"

"Meri! Meri! Meri! We thought you were gone forever!" Finny sobbed.

Merianna too, felt like crying, but had to quickly soak it back up.

"Uuuhh…Meirin, Finny…Snake, Bardroy…I missed you all too… I'm sorry..."

They broke apart, letting her some space to wipe her tears.

"But I think that…we have to focus…" she said, "I can…cry later."

"What…happened to…?" Finny started.

He didn't want to finish, although his eyes pointed to where it was obvious.

"They look like…burn wounds…" Snake murmured.

Meirin took her friend's hands in hers, worry etched on her face as she inspected them. Merianna took her hands away and tried to cover her face a bit, not quite knowing how to answer.

"S-Sorry, Snowy… We didn't mean to point it out. We're just all glad you're back." Bardroy said, flashing a quick smile.

"W-What happened? Was that…Pluto?" she asked, "And where is…Young Master?"

"Plu's…we don't know, really." Finny answered, "He's gone crazy! I…I think it's because of that collar, but we have no way to get it off. We're kind of just… stuck now…"

"Ciel is with Sebastian, and they went with Paris." Said Snake, "So they should be safe…although today was the day that they were supposed to come back…"

"B-But what are we going to do now…? Plu…is going to destroy the town! And it'll be all our fault!" Meirin cried.

Bardroy loaded the gun with a clink.

"Here's the plan." He said, "I'll try to keep shooting these tranquilizer bullets. After all, we have a whole box of them. Snake, you'll be injecting your venom or poison into these empty cartridges as backup to the tranquilizers and Finny'll be backup for me and Snake. Meirin, I'm gonna have to ask to you patrol the area around, see if there's any stragglers behind and get them to safety. In the event that…for whatever reason…I don't make it, I'll send Merianna to fetch you and you'll have to keep shooting."

Everyone listened intently and nodded in unison. They knew their assigned positions and were ready.

"Once we get this all over with," Bard added, "Let's all go out drinking at that pub again!"


	5. The World

"Plu! It-It's me! Merianna!" she called, floating near his head.

The dog growled at her and below, she heard the shots of a gun. She reached her hand out, but in response, Pluto snapped at it and prepared to breathe out a stream of flame. She dropped out of the way, landing quite clumsily. Finnian hurriedly scooped her up and carried her out of harm's way.

"Sh-Shit…It looks like we're gonna have to use those bullets of yours, Snake." Bard yelled over the last shot of his gun, "Got them ready?"

Snake answer with a couple of bullets already in his palm. A couple fell and clinked on the floor, and he stooped over to pick them up. Finny let Merianna down.

"He won't listen, Bard…! I don't know what else we can do…" she reported.

"Watch out!" Finny yelled.

A stream of flame was shot at them, but there was no time to get away.

"Nooo!" Merianna screamed.

Without thinking, she stepped before them and opened her wings. At the very least, her hands and face were protected from fire as well as her body, covered by the black cloth Clairvaux had wrapped around her. It seemed forever before Pluto had run out of breath, but once he did, Merianna fell to her knees. Wracked with pain, her body jittered and she could not help but scream out. Bardroy hurriedly used his fireproof chef's coat as a fire blanket and quickly put it over her to extinguish the flames while Finny wrapped a large piece of debris nearby and set it before them, just in time before another stream of flame was shot at them. The piece of debris Finny had set blocked most of the blaze.

"Meri! Meri! You saved us!" Finny yelled, holding her in his arm, "Meri! Wake up!"

"N-Not yet…gguuk! Finny…We hav-ack to save…!" she groaned.

She could not move her wings much. Looking at them, they were severely burned. In places that were not black, they were a sickening white or bloody red. Hurriedly, she closed them up, but it was immensely painful as they melted back into her back. Bard had them run to a different location, Merianna being carried by Finny. While Pluto continued breathing fire at the rock where they were, Bard sent a few rounds.

"How many do you reckon we use?" Bard asked Snake.

"All of them." he replied.

Bardroy turned to him in surprise, shooting a look at the full box that he had filled.

"It might not even be enough." He warned, cradling a few tired-out snakes, "It doesn't look like…he's any weaker…says Dan."

"Well tell Dan that he's wrong!" he snapped, raising the gun again.

From behind, they heard footsteps. It was Ciel and Meirin running towards them. They were out of breath once they stopped.

"Young Master!" Finny exclaimed.

"Meirin!" Bard yelled, "Why the hell did you bring the young master here!?"

"He insisted!" she defended.

"Plu…! And…!"

His eyes fell on Merianna, who was speechless as he was. She made to hug him, but instead stopped herself.

"Y-Young Master! You're…safe…!"

He breathed out a sigh in response.

"What are you doing?" he asked, addressing all of them.

"W-Well…We wanted Plu-Plu to turn back to how he was…" Finny explained, "We're sorry!"

"But I'm out of tranquilizers…and Snake's venom…well…isn't working either."

"What are you saying?" Ciel asked rhetorically, "You have real bullets, don't you?"

Meirin immediately interjected: "A-Are you telling us to shoot Plu-Plu, Young Master?"

"Look into his eyes," he replied, "His mind is gone. That's not the Pluto you know. He's just a beast."

"B-But still! There…has to be…a way…" Merianna reasoned, although she knew herself that he had truth in his words.

"You all know full well how wretched it is to have your pride stolen, to without even a clear purpose. This is an order: Bardroy, Meirin, Finnian, Snake…kill that demon hound with your own hands!"

Tears were forming in their eyes, but they had no other choice. They raised their hands in a salute and answered in unison.

"Y-Young Ma-Master…?" Merianna timidly called.

"And you, come with me!"

She leapt after him, quick on her feet. They distanced themselves from the gunshots heard behind them. Suddenly, Ciel opened his arms up.

"Merianna, this is an order! Carry me up and over to the Queen's palace. Quickly!"

"E-Eh? I…don't know where that is!"

"I'll tell you. Now hurry!"

She nodded and opened her wings. She clenched her fists to keep from crying out loud.

"G-gahck-!" she gasped, "S-Sorry, Young Master…"

She bent down and let him piggyback, just like she had done with Maro, instead of being able to hoist him up with her skinny arms. He climbed on, feeling a bit silly.

"That way," he said, pointing south.

"Yes, sir!" she answered.

As with her trip in Purgatory, she bunny hopped along the way. Although it was getting even more difficult with each kilometre, she kept going.

"I thought you had…died…" Ciel finally commented.

"…I came back…You aren't scared of me, Young Master?"

"Hmph…." came the reply, "You came back."

"Se-Sebastian…where is h-h-he?"

He did not answer her question. They finally arrived at the palace, where Merianna had fallen flat on the ground. Letting Ciel scramble off, she scrambled to her knees and tried following.

"Don't follow me! Go back to the others!"

"B-But Young Master!"

"That's an order!"

She grimaced, but had to turn the other way. How far would her wings carry her? Feeling the side of her face, she felt the ends of her burnt hair. Ah, she was saddened by its short length now. She pushed herself up into the air, slowly learning to glide along with the heat rising from below. Pluto was nowhere to be found. She spotted two familiar bodies, rushing to flutter down.

"B-Bard! Snake!" she called out.

The two of them lay there, groaning. She came over to their side and shook them, but they were heavy and growing cold. She fumbled around her robe in panic, quite forgetting that she hardly anything on her. From somewhere, she heard a strange whistle, but she ignored it.

"A-Aaaahh! If only I had my cards with me…!"

She let out a cry of anguish as she dragged them to a more comfortable place. Remembering the scene around them, she rushed to find the others. She dragged her wings on the ground as she was unable to bear folding them back in. She had spotted Meirin and Finny a few ways off and fell near them, glad to see them. Putting a hand near their noses, she felt their breath. She moved them one by one over to where Bard and Snake were.

"Ahh..hahh…urrkk-! There's…still a chance that…Plu is…okay, right…?"

With that hope, she limped around the tall building where she had last seen him. There was a large amount of rubble and debris on one side, and she dragged herself over. Clambering over it, the spotted silver fur and fell down onto Pluto's body. She raked a hand through it. It was soft, but cold.

"S-Sorry…Pluto…Everyone…wanted to save you…surely."

Her consciousness was ebbing out, only being sparked back to consciousness by sharp bursts of pain. She tried taking a cinematic record out, but nothing came with her hand. Tiredly, she took out the _Tree of Life_ card from a pocket within the fabric.

"Don't…worry, Plu…Everyone…will see you again. Yo-You won't be alone. So, just wait patiently…okay?"

Her mind became hazy, and all the lights became one. She felt her wings stretched a bit more and a light breeze flew through the feathers.

"_Risardo…Risardo…_"


	6. Epilogue: The Tree of Life

Yes, it was certainly Tanaka who found them there in the town. He gathered them all up and quickly administered first aid if they needed it. Snake, Bard, Finny, Meirin and Merianna all found themselves waking up the next day. Pluto, however, was nowhere to be found. While Merianna had remembered feeling the hell upon her body, she woke to be completely fine. Even her wings that were burnt heavily shimmered white in the light. For breakfast, they had found Agni and Prince Sohma cheerfully handing out curry breads to the population. In return, they helped cook and hand them out for a few hours. They asked if they had seen their Young Master. Agni shook his head gravely and Prince Sohma burst into fresh tears. Without a word, Tanaka hurried the servants into the carriage and set off for home.

They were surprised to see their lawn and trees trimmed and the mansion in perfect shape, as if nothing had happened at all. Asking Tanaka for an explanation, he could only say that he fell asleep in rubble and woke up in his bed. He brought them to the servants' quarters, where a present lay on each of their beds. Merianna's was put atop of the dresser since she had gone missing for such a long time. Although they chatted excitedly while opening them, once they inspected the contents, the mood took a drastic drop. Inside the black boxes adorned with a silver ribbon were one Funtom Company candy and a card that read: "In memory of Ciel Phantomhive, who died at Aug. 26th, 1889. Aged 13 years." Tanaka read out a letter, apparently from Ciel, which stated that the servants were to receive their wages along with equal shares of whatever was left of the Phantomhive name. The estate was also theirs to own and that they could do whatever they wanted with it, even burn it. Of course, the servants were perplexed, but all agreed to keep the estate as it is. Even more heartbreaking was Elizabeth's spontaneous visit, clutching the card in her trembling hands. She had hoped that it was an elaborate ruse, but reality hit her hard as well. Although the servants invited her to stay the night since it had been a while since they had someone to serve, the politely refused and rode back into the night. While the people were now free to go anywhere and do anything in the mansion, they went about doing their chores and still slept in their quarters instead of the master bedroom or guestrooms.

"It would be disrespectful to Young Master."

They all agreed on that and cleaned the master bedroom daily, although never sleeping in it themselves. Eventually, the realism of their situation hit them and they started doing a bit less work around the estate.

"Let's all stay together, here!"

Came the promise, but Merianna shook her head silently at that. They all stayed together on the estate for two years. Surprisingly, Bardroy asked Merianna's hand in marriage in order to keep the house together, but she had also declined that. She told them that she had wished to see parts of the world that no one has ever before. They had enough money to live lavishly for the rest of their lives together, even without using a single penny of their wages. With her small wages and her equal share of money, she could buy her own small ship to Africa and still have enough to live there. Instead, she resolutely stated that she would only need her small amount of wages and that the rest should be kept here as an emergency fund.

And so she waved off her friends: Bardroy, Finnian, Meirin and Snake as she hopped onto the carriage. Tanaka seemed to be a bit fatigued as he drove the carriage a bit more slowly. After all, this might be her last ride in one. With a heavy sigh, she gave the old man a hug and wished him a warm and long life ahead of him as she boarded the ship. She only had a suitcase on her with a set of clothes, some money, a few books and a photograph to remember them all by.

"It's fine like this, guys. Someday, we will all be reunited as we were. I promise! So for now, show me your best smile!"


End file.
